Rigid airship



ALLI RIGID AIRSHIP 5 Sheet l June 26, 1928. 1,675,009

B. N. WALLIS RIGID AIRSHIP Filed Jan. 24, 1.925 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 N @M 0 M4) M June 26, 1928.

B. N. WALLIS RIGID AIRSHIP Filed Jan. 24, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 June 26, 1928.

Patented. June 2%, 1928.

BARNES NEVILLE XVALLI'S;

CoMPANY.

F mamasweetene s sHIP GUARANTEE COMPANY, LIMITED, on WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND, A BRITISH To AIR- slain inseam.

Application fire-a January 24, 1925;5Er'ia1 no. 564, and in Great na-a m Januai'y 26, 1-924.

This invention relates to rigid airships', the chief objects being to provide improved forms of transverse frames and longitudinal members; to dispense with the iisu'a l automatic gas valve discharge trunks; to produce an airship in which suspended from the sides thereof instead of being located along the keel as is customary; to provide means for placing the said cars in communication with one another, and to establish an easy means of communication between the nose and stern of the airship.

In rigid airships of the Zeppelin type the internal as )ressur'e actin radially out wards is usually borne by longitudinal girders and main transverse frame members constituted by lntercon'nected diamond sh a we'd trusses lvinofin one lane a large duced, the parts of which are exposer to complex stresses which it is difficult to calculate or estimate. Moreover, the usev of internal transverse bracing which is also rendered necessary, is undesirable, because,

in the event of one of the gas bags becoming deflated, the contiguous bag or bags, protrude or tend to protrude laterally into the space formerly occupied by the deflated thus bringing considerable end pressure to bear on the wire bracing and setting up stresses which. interfere with the strength and stability of the transverse frames.

According to one feature of the present invention the transverse frames are constituted by built-up space frame girders or by members which occupy more than a single plane. In the case ofspace frame girders the latter may be of triangular cross section, the apex of the triangle being preferably directed towards the interior of. the ship, and the wires of the networks which enclose the gas bags being preferably con nected to the transverse frames at or towards.

the outsturned base of the triangle; The triangulated frame members may be built the main loads,- such as the passenger and cargo cars, can be sh p; each of whicl r members may be itself of triangular or other space frame cross sectioii and the parts being" connected together by bracing wires and struts.

In lieu of maki the transverse frames of triangular cross sei'tion they may be of a'ii'y other space frame or box like 06 were; t-io'n, e. rents gular; circular, or p ygonal incross section, ar-e1 6 they nit be constituted by a pair of polygon-a1 ring-s eerinected' together by bracing wires and struts.

Owii'ig to the strength of a buil tnp space frame as compared with existing forms of transverse frames, the internal s" was is simplified the use of internal biasing wires n'iay be dispensed with or reduced,

The atomsaid space frames preferably employed in conjunction with the iiin-' proved form of network described inflthe c'o-pending United States patent application' No. 4,161 whereby the load is tra sferred to the frames as a tangential component and tangential loading centers sorted to and the loads slung from the sides of the airship where the maximum" lifts are obtained; where this improved form of network is employed the use of intermediate frame member s a rendered uiificcessa In rigid airshi'ps the gas pressure of the balloonettes or bags is usually borne by longitudinal girders-disposed between ti ns verse frames which lie in a singjle plane, the girders being usually composed of se'tions which are riveted or otherwise attached at their ends to the transverse frames; Th arrangement is open to the disad intagre that the strength of each girder section owing: to the fact that it is located between a' pair of transverse frames'which lie in single plane is only that of a so-ca'lled pin joint strut.

According to another feature" of the present invention and in cases'where" the tran I verse frames are constitutedby built-up given a solid foundation in the built-up space frame and is supported at two points by pins, so that. in the event of any girder section being damaged or requiring to removed itcan be readily detached andv afterwards replaced without interfering with the other sections of the longitudinal girders.

At the present time it iscustomary to pro vide the gas bags of rigid airships with auto matic valve discharge trunks forthe hydro gen, said trunks being usually constitutei'l by fabric piping communicating with a discharge hood.

According to another feature of the present invention and in cases where the airship is providedwvith transverse frames which are of box-like formation, and between which the contiguous gas bags are located, the flexible wires or the like comprising the network which encloses the; gas bags are attached to the outer edges of the said boxlike frames so that the box-like transverse frames themselves provide an enclosed trunk like passage or pipe. Gas valves are provided at the sides of thegas bags and situated at a suitable height above the bottom of the bag, said valves being arranged to discharge au'ton'iatically into the trunk-like passage or pipe formed by the box-like transverse frames, the gas which enters the frames from the gas bags being adapted to escape from a hood situated for example at the top of the airship.

Consequently the use of the usual special discharge trunks dispensed with and the construction of the airship lightened and cheapened.

In airships of the Zeppelin or like types the cars or coaches for the accommodation of the passengers and cargo are usually situated alongthe keel, and it has been proposed to establish communication between the passenger cars and an entrance at the nose of the airship by means of a passage- WlllCll extends from the nose to the keel of the ship. This arrangement, however, possesses the disadvantage that the passengers have to descend or ascend a very steep ladder or staircase when entering the coaches or leaving the airship.v

According to another feature oft-he pres.

outer cover, the corridors or gangways being suspended, after the manner of a ens pension bridge, from supports or catenaries, the ends of each catenary being preferably connected to contiguous transverse frames. The corridors or gangways may be made in sections suitably connected together, and

may have a rigid floor, to which slings from the catenaries may be connected so as to dispense withthe use ofside girders, and thereby reduce weight. Radius rodsor the like are provided and disposed between the gan'gways and the inner framework and the outer cover of'the airship so as to prevent swinging of the suspended gangways.

its the-suspended gangways can be lo cated at or about the plane of the passenger cars at the sides of the ship, the use of very steep staircases avoided, while in cases where the airship is also provided with transverse frames which are of space frame construction, communication between the cars on each side of the ship can be established by means of staircases located within the box-like transverse frames. i

This arrangementof staircase in the transverse frames has the advantagethat the restaurant, lounges, kitchens, etc. can be located on, the cars onone side of the airship, while the sleeping quarters for the VHS-1 sengers can be located on theother side of the airship, and ready access obtained from one car, or set of cars to the other. through the aforesaid permanent staircase in the transverse frames.

The space at the nose of the airship up to the first transverse frame may belitted up as .an observation. car or saloon, embarkation doors being provided leading to the ex.-

' terior together with doors leading from the saloon to the aforesaid gangways.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings which show more or less diagrammatically various parts of an airship embodying different features of the present invention and in which v Figure 1 is a transverse section.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section showing a gas bag in position between a pair of contiguous transverse frames. I

Figure 3 is an elevation of part'of the transverse frame showing on an enlarged scale two contiguous built-up struts.

Figure 4- is a plan showing on an enlarged scale part of one of the main longitudinal girders and the contiguous portionsof the transverse frame.

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of F gure Figure 6 is a section taken on the line 6.6 of Figure 4i.

Figure 7 is an elevation showing in dotted lines. the approximate position of the sus pended gangway by which communication is established between the nose and stern 01". he a rship- Figure 8 illustrates the lower half of a modified construction of transverse frame and shows diagrammatically one of the transverse staircases by which communication is established between the passenger cars on each side of the airship.

Figure 9 shows the upper half of one of the transverse frames and indicates diagrannnatically the approximate position of.

the su s aendedside 'an wa vs b which coinin b munication is established between the nose and stern of the airship, as also the gas.

valves and trunks.

Fig. 10 is a sectional vijei. showing diagrammatically the position of the passenger cars.

A, A are the transverse frames B, B are the longitudinal girders; C is one of thegas bag, D is the suspended gangway, and (Z, (Z are the catenaries, the ends of which are connected to the transverse frames, and from. which the ganggway D is suspended. E the staircase located within, the box-like transverse frame A by which communication is established. between the passenger cars F, F, of Fig. 10, the latter being sus pended from the" framework by members. F, l? and located approximately at the-f position shown. in Fig. 7. The suspended side gangways D, Dare shown at Figure 9 onan enlarged scale and located outside the outer cover; in practice, however, they will be located between the transverse frame A.

and the outer cover G as shown at Figure 8. (1' is the trunk or passage in the upper half of each boxlike transverse frame through which hydrogen escapes bymeans of valves 9', g to the hoodsg, g'at the top of the air,- ship. The lower end of each trunk; is sealed at the joint g-.

The method of. constructing the transverse and longitudinal frames is shown more clearly at Figures 3, 4', 5 and 6. The frames A, A are triangular in cross section, and in the example shown comprise an upper memher or girder a which is itself of triangular cross section, and two rectangular box-like girders a, a" at the lower end thereof. The box-like girders are of varying cross sec tion as shown at Figures 3 and 4 and are built up from four hollow tubes a, a The side and bottom members a W, are also constituted by truss girders of triangular cross section.

' by built-up space Each long" idinal girder B isxcf triangular cross ion and the apex girder if and base girders b, may also be constituted frame girders of triangular cross section. At the points where the girder B meets the transverse frame A a pair of short rigid struts 15,19 are provided which. constitute extensions of the parts Z1, b of the longitudinal girders and are built into the transverse framesso as to give the longitudinal girders a solid foundation therein. A third strut or built-in portion 79 is located between the rectangular members of, a" which form part of the transverse frames and connected thereto in any suitable manner. It is preferred, however, to connect the struts b, 6 to the parts Z), Z2 of the longitudinal girders, as also to connect the strut b to the rectangular portions at, a of the transverse framesby means of pin joints 6, Z2 so as to allow a single pin to be employed to connect contiguous.

parts together. Consequently, and in the event of any girder section being damaged or requiring to be removed it can be readily detached and afterwards replaced without interfering with the other sections of the longitudinal girder. Each polygonal section of transverse frame are preferably alsov connected to contiguous polygonal sections by means of pin joints-t0 allow of easy assembly or detachment. H, Figures 1 and 2, is the mesh wiringlocated between each contiguous pair of gas bags. This mesh wiring has its parts constructed in the manner provided for the purpose described in the co-pending United States application No. 4,161. 1

it will he observed that by reason ofthe aforesaid construction:internal bracing wires and intermediate frame members are entirely dispensed with. 7

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A rigid airship provided with transverse frames constituted by built-up space framegirders, each girder comprising a plurality of frame members eachof which is built-up from ringdike members conforming in 'shape tothe external shape of the airship and; each of said ring-like members being itself of space frame or box-like construction.

. 2. A rigid airship provided with transverse frames constituted by built-up space frame girders, each girder comprising a plurality of frame members each of which is built-up from ring-like members conforming in shape to the external shape of the airship and each of said ring-like members being itself of space frame or box-like construction, the parts of each ring-like member of space frame construction being connected together by bracing wires and struts.

3. A rigid airship provided with transverse frames which are of space frame construction and in which the mesh of the wiring which surrounds each gas bag progressively increases from the top to the bottom of the airship.

4-. A rigid airship provided with transverse frames which are of triangular or approximately triangular cross section and in which the mesh of the wiring which surrounds each gas bag progressively increases from the top to the bottom of the airship, eachwire of the mesh wiring stretching be tween and having itsends attached to a contiguous pair of transverse frames so that the load is transferred to the .frames as a tangential component.

5. A rigid airship in which the longitudinal girders are constructed in sections comprising a strut section which'is built into a transverse frame so that its ends project on each side of the frame and an intermediate section located between and having its ends connected to a pair of strut sections.

6. A rigid airship as claimed in claim 5 in which each intermediate section of the longitudinal girder is attached at its ends in a detachable manner to the projecting ends of a pair of strut sections.

. 7. A rigid airship provided with transverse frames which are of box-like formation and between which the contiguous bags are located gas valves being provided at the sides of the bag, said valves being arranged to discharge automatically into the trunk-like passage or pipe formed by the box-like. transverse frames, the gas which enters the frames from the gas bags being adapted to escape through a hood situated for example at the top of the airship.

8. A rigid airship provided with transverse frames which are constituted by builtup space frame girders and in which the mesh of the wiring which surrounds each gas bag progressively increases from the top to the bottom of the airship, each wire of the mesh wiring stretching between and having its ends attached to a contiguous pair of transverse frames so that the load is transferred .to the frames as a tangential component, the main loads, such as the passenger cars being located at the sides of the airship where the maximum lifts are obtained. I

9. A rigid airship as clalmed in claim 8 in which corridors or gangways are provided and located along each side of the airship in the space situated between the outer cover of the airship and the, inner framework.

10. A rigid airship provided with transverse frames which are constituted by builtup space frame girders, and in which the mesh of the wiring which surrounds each gas bag progressively increases from the top to the bottom of the airship, corridors or gangways being provided and located along each side of the airship in the space situated between the out-er cover of the airship and the inner framework, said corridors being suspended from catenaries, the ends of each of said catenaries being attached to a contiguous pair of transverse frames.

11. A rigid airship provided with transverse frames constituted by built-up space frame girders, each girder comprising a plurality of frame members, each of which is built-up from ring like members conforming in shape to the external shape of theairship and each of said ring like members being itself of'space frame construction, staircases being provided and located between the lower portions of said space frame girders.

12. A rigid airship having transverse frames constituted by built-up space frame girders, passenger cars located symmetrically on each side of said airship and staircases within said space frame girders establishing communication between said pas senger cars.

13. A rigid airship provided with transverse frames of triangular or approximately triangular cross section, said frames being built up from ring-like members conforming in shape to the external shape of the airship, each of said members being itself of hollow or space-frame construction, said ring-like members being connected together by. bracing wires, struts, or the like.

14. A rigid airship provided with transverse frames of triangularor approximately triangular cross section built up from three ring-like members conforming in shape to the external shape ofthe' airship, each of said members being itself of space. frame construction and of triangular cross section and the parts being connected together by bracing wires, struts, or the like.

BARNES NEVILLE WALLIS. 

